• Profiles of terror suspects being sent from UK to face US trials

    By Robert Windrem, NBC News

    Here are thumbnail sketches of the five men who were being extradited Friday from the U.K. to the U.S., where they will stand trial on terror-related charges in federal district courts in Manhattan and Hartford, Conn. Abu Hamza al Masri, Khalid al Fawwaz and Adel Abdel Bari will be tried in New York and Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan will be tried in Hartford.

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    Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al Masri, shown leading prayers at the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London pm Feb. 7, 2003.

    Abu Hamza al Masri, an Egyptian-born cleric, will face 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Ore., between June 2000 and December 2001. Masri was formerly the imam of London’s Finsbury Park Mosque, where shoe bomber Richard Reid worshiped and was recruited. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the U.S., Masri was quoted as saying: "Many people will be happy, jumping up and down at this moment." In 2003, he famously addressed a rally in central London called by the Islamic al-Muhajiroun, where members spoke of their support for Islamist goals like the creation of an Islamic caliphate and upending the Middle Eastern regimes. Masri lost both hands and an eye in Afghanistan, either building a bomb or in a de-mining operation.

    Khalid al Fawwaz has been under indictment in the United States since 1998, accused of conspiracy in planning the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa. He has been in U.K. jails since Sept. 28, 1998, fighting his extradition in both U.K. and EU courts.  Al-Fawwaz, a Saudi and a civil engineer, is 50 years old. He moved from Riyadh to London in 1994. According to documents placed in the court record by the FBI, he was then appointed by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as the first head of the terrorist group’s media organ, the Advice and Reform Committee. In 1996, as bin Laden delegated some of his leadership responsibilities to al-Fawwaz, the FBI reported.  By 1998, the FBI claimed in affidavits that he was a pivotal figure in planning the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people.

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    Abel Abdel Bari is an Egyptian who -- like al Fawwaz and other alleged conspirators (now dead) -- was indicted in the embassy bombings. He was arrested in London in July 20, 1999, and charged with conspiring with bin Laden in planning the twin attacks on Aug. 7, 1998, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American forces in Saudi Arabia. Bari reportedly issued a statement following the bombings claiming responsibility.

    The two remaining defendants Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan, both British, are accused of involvement with the pro-terror website Azzam.com before their arrests by their government. They have been held in custody since Aug. 5, 2004. 

    Robert Windrem is a senior investigative producer for NBC News.

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  • Cleric al-Masri loses bid to avoid extradition to US on terror charges

    Four terrorists wanted on charges in the U.S. have lost their case at the European Court of Human Rights and will be extradicted to the US after years of legal battles. ITV's Lucy Manning reports

    Adrian Dennis / AFP - Getty Images file

    Fiery Muslim preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri in a file picture taken Jan. 20, 2003.

    By Reuters

    The European Court of Human Rights gave final approval on Monday for the extradition of one of Britain's most radical Islamist clerics and four others to the United States, where they face terrorism charges.


    The decision caps a long legal battle and means Abu Hamza al-Masri could be extradited within weeks. Britain's Home Office, or interior ministry, said it would hand over the suspects "as quickly as possible."

    The Egyptian-born al-Masri, 54, filed an appeal, along with the four other suspects, after the court in Strasbourg authorized Britain to transfer him to the United States on charges he supported al-Qaida and aided a fatal kidnapping in Yemen.

    Al-Masri, who could face a sentence of more than 100 years in an ultrasecure "Supermax" prison, had argued such treatment would contravene Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhumane and degrading treatment.

    "Today the Grand Chamber decided to reject the request. This means that the Chamber judgment of April 10, 2012, is now final," the court said in a statement.

    The decision also concerned appeals lodged by four other defendants, Babar Ahmad, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz, all of whom have been detained in Britain pending extradition to the United States.

    A Home Office spokesman said that "we will work to ensure that the individuals are handed over to the U.S. authorities as quickly as possible."

    The family of Ahmad called on the government to halt the extradition process, saying British prosecutors were in possession of the material that forms the basis of the U.S. indictment and should pursue the case in Britain.

    Al-Masri is one of the most radical Islamists in Britain, a country he has attacked for its support of U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The one-eyed radical with a metal hook for a hand has praised the September 11, 2001, attacks, and was once a preacher at a North London mosque but was later convicted of inciting murder and racial hatred. He is being held in a British jail.

    He was indicted in 2004 by a federal grand jury in New York, accused of providing material support to al-Qaida and of involvement in a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998 in which four hostages -- three Britons and one Australian -- were killed.

    He was also accused of providing material support to al-Qaida by trying to set up a training camp for fighters in Oregon and of trying to organize support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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